Vargas blocks abortion bill

The legislation, which will come back up May 7, would expand the number of providers who can perform a certain type of first-trimester abortion — a move that alarms those who oppose abortion but praised by groups supporting a woman’s right to choose.

Both sides have been lobbying senators leading up to key votes in various committees this week. Among those: Sen. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego.

Vargas ended up casting a crucial “no” vote that produced a 4-4 deadlock in the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee Thursday.

Kehoe was granted reconsideration, which is generally a routine courtesy. But Kehoe, a Democrat, is the chair of the influential Appropriations Committee and her measure is being supported by Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. That alone suggests it’s far from the permanent shelf.

Kehoe signaled there will be an aggressive push to win over one member of the committee before the legislation returns. Sen. Lou Correa, D-Anaheim, one of the no votes, is a possibility, along with Vargas. Sen. Mark Wyland, R-Solana Beach, also voted no but is not considered a possible vote-switch.

In the days leading up to the vote, Planned Parenthood, a sponsor of the measure, ran radio advertisements urging San Diegans to call Vargas in support of the bill, but the strategy failed.

Vargas, who is running for Congress, was traveling to San Diego after the vote and did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But his top opponent, former Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny, also a Democrat, issued a scathing rebuttal.

“Continued war on women’s health,” was the headline in her missive aimed at Vargas. She pointed out that there are no abortion providers in Imperial County — part of the congressional district — which could change if Kehoe’s measure is signed into law.

Ducheny said being in Congress representing the San Diego-Imperial area district “means supporting women, their right to access to quality care, and most importantly their right to choose.”

Carol Hogan, director of Pastoral Projects and Communications for the California Catholic Conference, testified during an earlier committee hearing: “Abortion on demand is legal in California but no law can make it moral or good.”

There is a broader political side to the debate. The California Nurses Association opposed one version of Kehoe’s Senate Bill 1338 that originally would have authorized as many as 24,000 trained nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and physician assistants to perform the aspiration procedure.

The nurses association is a politically potent political force and supporters of Kehoe’s measure fear its opposition could scare away votes. Its opposition was a major factor in forcing Kehoe to narrow the bill so that it would cover just 41 nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and physician assistants who are participating in a University of California San Francisco pilot program.

Satisfied, the nurses association has endorsed the scaled-back bill. But it stalled Thursday regardless.

While the committee hearing is set for May 7, the deadline for Kehoe to move the bill to the floor isn’t until May 18.